Collins announces retirement after brutal Swiatek loss
30-year-old Danielle Collins has revealed this will be her last year playing tennis
American Danielle Collins has announced she intends to retire from tennis, after suffering a heartbreaking loss to Iga Swiatek at the Australian Open.
The 30-year-old led the world No 1 4-1 and a double break in the third set of their second round clash, before Swiatek reeled off five consecutive games to win the match.
Speaking to the Melbourne Park media after the loss, Collins revealed her plans for the future.
Collins says this will be her last year
“At this point, you know, I’m kind of at the end of my career and they don’t sting quite as much, to be honest,” said Collins of the final set loss to Swiatek.
“I feel like I have kind of gotten to the point where obviously they matter and, you know, my career means a lot to me, but the end of the day, you know, you either win or you lose, and that’s all there is to it.”
When questioned what she means by “the end of her career”, Collins clarified: “This is going to be my last season, actually, competing. I don’t really know exactly when, but this will be my last season and I’m really looking forward to that.”
Justifying her decision to retire, she continued, saying, “I feel like I’ve had a pretty good career. There has certainly been ups and downs to it, and I think the travel and some of the things away from the court with scheduling and all of that, this is a really tough sport.
“I have other things that I’d kind of like to accomplish in my life outside of tennis, and would like to be able to kind of, you know, be able to have the time to be able to do that. Obviously having kids is a big priority for me.”